THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SKIS (continued 2)

We have so far talked only of hard and soft snow, but the snow surface is sometimes a breakable crust, into which the skis cut, and in which no sort of stemming is possible. Your only way of going slowly in this is to traverse at a very slight angle; if you then want to stop, you must step round—that is, you must lift the upper ski, put it down again pointing horizontally across the slope, and instantly lift the lower and bring it down parallel with the first. Be careful to throw your weight well upwards and forwards as you put down the upper ski, and not to let the lower remain on the snow for a moment after the first has been brought to it again; it is safest to give a little jump from one to the other.

Either by stepping round, or by any sort of stemming, you can of course make a change of direction when traversing if the gradient of the slope varies; as you pass on to steeper ground, for instance, you can weight the heel of the stemming ski for a moment until it is again horizontal, at the same time flattening the running ski a little and letting it slip down to the angle at which it was pointing before. This is really an embryo swing, as you will see later; one important reason, in fact, for learning all the methods of braking thoroughly is that they are the elements of which the swings are composed, each variety of swing or turn being either a development of one method of braking, or a combination of one with another.

When you become more expert you will not often have to stem while traversing if the ground is open, though even then you will often find it convenient to brake in one way or other when going straight downhill. In thick wood, however, you will find it indispensable to be able to go at a moderate speed in all sorts of snow and at any gradient. It is also worth remembering that to stem straight downhill at an ordinary pace is a comparatively fast process. It is not so pretty and needs much less skill, but it is quicker than running freely in tacks of an ordinary gradient and connecting them by downhill turns (explained later).

When running down a narrow path or the like it is sometimes impossible to brake effectually, as there is not room to put the skis in a wide [V] position or to Telemark-stem; it may then be permissible to use the stick or sticks as an aid. Plate XXI. shows a way of doing this. The arm supported against the thigh gives a firm purchase—firm enough, in my experience, to hurt the wrist a good deal if the points of the sticks catch something hard. This manœuvre is hardly ever necessary unless the path is very icy; if there is much of this, and you want to go slowly, you may just as well walk with your skis on your shoulder.

When you can do all that has been explained so far, you may (if you have steadily refrained from using your stick except as I have directed) consider yourself quite a respectable ski-runner in a small way. There will be nothing to prevent you from going for any expedition of which the uphill climb is within your powers, for whether you are going uphill or downhill, there is no sort of ground that cannot be negotiated by one or other of the manœuvres that I have described.

But, though a perfectly efficient tourist, you will not be a very fast one downhill until you have learnt how to stop and steer yourself in any sort of snow, when running fast, and will tire yourself unnecessarily on steep or difficult ground until you can run in zigzags without coming to a standstill between each tack.

The different ways of doing these things are described in the following sections.

THE STEMMING TURN

I must here apologise for the extreme ambiguity of ski-ing terminology, which, however, as I did not invent it, I have not the moral courage to try to improve. The term “stemming” may be used in several different senses. In its narrowest sense it means holding the skis in the [V] position and braking with one of them. More broadly it means braking with both in the [V] position. It also means braking with the skis in Telemark position. In fact in its broadest sense it means any sort of braking except side-slipping with the skis parallel.

In this sense almost any method of turning on skis might, as we shall see later, be called a “stemming” turn. The expression “stemming turn,” however, is generally used in a special sense to denote a turn during which the skis are held in the [V] position with the feet nearly level.

By means of a “stemming turn” you can, as you already know, turn uphill or stop when traversing; you can also do so from a direct descent. You can, moreover, turn downhill from a traverse until you face in the opposite direction and run off on a new tack.

This turn is effected by putting the skis in a more or less wide [V] position, and either simultaneously or immediately afterwards weighting and slightly advancing the one that is to be outermost in turning. To show how in this as in all turns the various factors of side-slipping, with the weight variously distributed, combined steering action of both skis, edging, &c., come into play according to circumstances, it will be necessary to describe in detail the two different uses of the turn.

For practising these turns find a moderate slope and snow in which it is easy to stem when running straight downhill; a much trodden practice-ground is the very thing.

Uphill Turn to the Left.—You already know how to turn uphill from a traverse by stemming; the following way of doing it is slightly simpler. Traverse to the left at an easy gradient in normal position, weight on right foot. When you want to turn, draw the upper ski a little to the rear (Fig. 31, 1) and then push the heels wide apart, straightening both legs and putting all the weight on the lower heel (Fig. 31, 2 and 3). As the lower ski begins to turn uphill, bring the other one smartly to its side again in normal position.

This is much the same thing as stopping when stemming with the lower ski, as described above (page 121), but is rather simpler, for the uncomfortable crouching position necessary when stemming with the lower ski is avoided, there is no shifting of the weight from one ski to the other, and the preparatory movement of drawing back the upper ski can perfectly well be made simultaneously with the actual turn.

Fig. 31.—Uphill stemming turn to left.

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

To make an uphill stemming turn when running across a slope in normal position is rather a clumsy process, and it is quite unnecessary to spend much time in practising it, for an uphill turn from a traverse can be made more easily and effectively by the Christiania swing, in the way already explained, or the Telemark, which will be described later. Just make sure, however, that you can turn uphill in this way from a traverse in either direction, and then try the turn from a direct descent, as follows.

Run straight downhill in the stemming position with the weight equally on both skis and the feet as wide apart as possible, taking care that the legs are quite straight at the knee, and rigid (Fig. 32, 1).

Fig. 32.—Uphill stemming turn to left.

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

In order to turn to the left (most people find it easiest to learn to turn to this side first) you have simply to throw all the weight on to the heel of the right foot and turn the body to face the point of the right ski. You will begin to turn to the left, and as you do so the left foot will involuntarily fall slightly to the rear (2), when the steering action due to the relative position of the skis will help the turn.

If you keep all the weight on the heel of the right foot you will go on turning until the right ski points slightly uphill, when you will come to a standstill (3). As you do so, be sure to bring the inner ski quickly to the normal position.

This is extremely simple, and, if you keep both legs quite straight and the feet wide apart, you can hardly fail to do it correctly.

The mistake you are most likely to make is that of letting the left knee bend as you begin to come round. If it does so the left ski will get on its outside edge, and, instead of continuing to skid round, will only run in the direction in which it is pointing, so that if it does not run across the other (Plate XXV.), and throw you down,[8] you will find yourself running obliquely across the slope, stemming with the right ski only instead of turning uphill and stopping.

It is not sufficient, however, to keep the inner leg straight, for unless at the same time you keep nearly all weight off it, either the left ski will get in front and you will begin to face downhill again, or it will get too much on to its inside edge, and will at least prevent you from finishing the turn, even if it does not trip you up.

As soon as you can turn to the left in this way, learn to turn to the right, of course substituting “right” for “left” and “left” for “right” in the directions.

If, while running straight downhill, you turn and come to a standstill in the way I have described, you will, when you have stopped, find yourself a certain distance to one side or the other of your original course.

This may not always be convenient; you may, for instance, want to stop while running down an icy road, fenced on each side, and so narrow that you have only just room enough to stem, and would run into the fence if you swung to one side in stopping.

In a case of this sort you can turn suddenly and stop in your tracks in the following way:—

Suppose you are running straight downhill in the double-stemming position; when you want to stop, give a vigorous push with one foot—say the left—and so throw all your weight suddenly right outwards on to the heel of the right foot, turning the body quickly well round to the left as you do so. If this is done with force and decision the right ski skids round quickly to a horizontal position, and as it does so, the left ski comes into the air, is lifted smartly round, and brought down parallel with and close to the other one. You then find yourself at a standstill, facing to the left across your original track, but without having moved to one side of it (Fig. 33).

Just at first you may fail to do this properly through giving a timid, jerky push with the left foot instead of a steady thrust. This will prevent your weight from going sufficiently outwards over the right ski, and the left ski will come to the snow again before you have had time to lift it round to the side of the other one and before that one has had time to skid round to right angles with your course. After a very few trials, however, you should be able to do it correctly, and you will then find that no great force is necessary, and that the movement need not even be made particularly quickly provided it be done with a free swing. In order to give the push you must, of course, bend the inside knee slightly.

Fig. 33.—Uphill stemming turn to left.

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

Provided the inner ski is brought parallel to the outer one, it does not matter if it comes to the snow again before the latter has skidded round to right angles, for then the turn can be finished with both skis side-slipping together—that is to say, the turn can begin as a stemming turn and finish as a Christiania, a most useful combination which is beginning to be known by the dreadful name “Stemmiania,” which I only quote in order to record my dislike for it.

This way of making the turn is practically instantaneous, and is so convenient that when you have once learnt it you will hardly ever use the one I described first. By means of it you can stop suddenly when moving at a very fair rate, especially if you stem hard with both skis well edged inwards just before making the turn.

Practise this movement without skis at first, and then at a standstill with skis, on the most slippery snow you can find, trying to make the outer ski spin right round to right angles.

These uphill stemming turns enable you to stop yourself wherever the quality of the snow and the gradient allow you to hold the double-stemming position while running straight downhill. It is no use attempting to make them on very steep slopes or in snow into which the skis sink deeply; in either of these cases you will have to stop yourself by means of the Telemark or Christiania swings, described later.

I need hardly say that if you merely wish to alter your course and not to stop yourself, you can finish the turn at any point. You either wait until the outer, weighted ski is pointing in the direction you want to go, and then bring the other ski parallel to it in the normal position and run on at full speed; or, if you still wish to brake, you turn rather farther until the inner ski is in line with your intended course, and then shift the weight partly or entirely to that one and run on stemming.

Downhill Turn to the Left.—A turn made in a downward direction in order to join one tack to another when descending a hill in zigzags is often called an “S” turn, on account of the shape of the track left by a number of these turns made in alternate directions (Plates XXVI., XXXIII., XLII.).

Any downhill turn, therefore, whether made by the stemming turn or by any other means, can be called an “S” turn. A good many people, however, having never seen a downhill turn made by any other means than the stemming turn—or at least the awkward manœuvre which the average runner imagines to be the stemming turn—believe “S” turn and stemming turn to be synonymous.

As will be seen later on, a downhill or “S” turn can quite well be made by means of the Telemark or Christiania swings, the “S” having no reference whatever to stemming.

To avoid confusion, I shall not use the term “S” turn at all, but only speak of a downhill turn.

Fig. 34.—Downhill stemming turn to left (3, 4, and 5).

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

The best way to practise the turn at first is to run, as before, straight downhill in the double stemming position for a few yards, then throw the weight on the left ski as if you meant to turn uphill to the right and stop (Fig. 34, 1 and 2), but just before the left ski points horizontally across the hill, transfer the weight to the heel of the right foot, and face round to the left a little.

You will find yourself beginning to turn downhill again—the left ski falling a little behind the other as you do so—and by keeping the weight on the right foot you will go round until you face across the slope in the opposite direction (Fig. 34, 3, 4, and 5), when you can shift the weight to the left foot and reverse the process.

By repeating this you will descend the hill in short zigzags.

The important points are—(1) to hold the stemming position unaltered with the knees straight, the heels of the skis wide apart, and the tips close together; (2) to throw the weight well on to the outer ski; and (3) not to let the inner ski get in front.

The last half of the turn, from the point at which you are facing straight downhill, is, of course, really an uphill one, identical with what you have already learnt, and can be finished at any point in any of the ways already described.

You can start a downhill turn, like an uphill one, from the normal position while running across a slope, and under these conditions the turn is, as in the case of the uphill one, rather less easy; this time, however, it is extremely important to be able to do it, for this is by far the most useful application of the stemming turn, and you can in this way, provided the snow be suitable, join one tack to another on a slope of any steepness, where it would be impossible to run straight downhill in double stemming position.

Suppose you wish to start a downhill turn to the left while running at a gentle gradient across a slope in the normal position (i.e. with the weight on the left foot and the right foot in front), the first thing to do is to turn the right knee and ankle inwards so as to lift the outer edge of the ski as much as possible. Then, keeping the point of the right ski ahead of the other, push its heel uphill and out to the position of 2, Fig. 35, b, at the same time weighting the toe of the left foot and slightly flattening that ski, which will then begin to point downwards and give the other more room to turn. As they turn downwards push their heels wide apart and throw your weight quickly outwards so that a final thrust of the left leg sends it full on to the right heel just as you face straight downhill. Almost simultaneously lift the left ski round to the side of the other and finish the turn with the skis parallel.

As you lift the inner ski turn (not lean) the body inwards just enough to face squarely towards the point of the outer ski.

If you turn slowly there will be an interval between the pushing round of the outer ski and the final thrust of the inner leg during which the skis will be equally weighted. If you turn sharply while running fast the checking of the outer ski’s speed as it comes broadside on will throw the weight on it at once and lift the inner ski without an effort.

Fig. 35.—Downhill stemming turn to left (two methods).

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

It is also possible to make the turn by putting the weight on the outer ski before it begins to stem at all, and making it turn downhill by pressing on the toe (as in Fig. 35, a). I used to think this method the easier of the two, but have changed my mind about it, and can only apologise for leading people astray.

Up to this point you have been practising on moderate slopes only, but it is on steep slopes that you will generally have to use the downhill stemming turn, and it is on steep slopes that you should practise it the instant that you can do it neatly on a gentle one.

You will then find a difficulty that has probably not bothered you much so far. On a steep slope, as you begin to turn downhill, the increase of speed is sudden and considerable, and if you do not compensate for this by throwing the weight more and more forwards, the skis will shoot from under you, and you will sit down.

Don’t, however, begin leaning downhill too soon, while still facing across the slope, for that will throw the weight on to the inside (lower) ski. Simply lean as far forwards over the front of your skis as possible, so that as they turn downhill your weight will be well over them.

The difficulty of leaning forward sufficiently on a steep slope is partly due to the tendency to stand with the weight vertically above the feet, as one would do when walking downhill. The very best plan for overcoming this difficulty, and one which will make it infinitely easier for you to perform the turn quickly and correctly, is to keep your eyes fixed on the ground at your feet while you are turning, and to imagine that it is almost or quite level. You will then naturally hold yourself at right angles to the slope no matter how steep that may be.

You will find this downhill turn of very little practical use on a steep slope until you can make it quite shortly and sharply; for if you make a long curve, the pace increases so much in the middle of it that you are almost sure to lose control, and fail to finish the turn, even if you do not fall down.

The reason why to lift round the inner ski at the middle of the turn is safer than to keep it on the snow throughout is because the curve is thus considerably shortened.

The act of suddenly throwing yourself very far forward over the front of your skis as you face downhill will make them hang back a little for an instant—all the more so for the fact that at this point the stemming action of both is at its maximum—and at this moment it is easy to give a push with, and then to lift round, the inner ski.

Be careful, in lifting the ski round, to bring it down again exactly parallel to the outer ski; for the inner one, if it comes down pointing towards the outer one, will instantly run across it and upset you; while if pointing away, it will run uphill and draw your feet apart with a jerk that will probably have the same result.

Although, as I have said, you should turn the body a little in throwing the weight outwards, it is no use attempting to lean or swing it the way you want to go. You must simply throw it forwards and outwards—that is, rather away from where you want to go. If you lean the way you want to go you will simply put weight on the inner ski, which will then either trip you up or make you run away straight downhill instead of finishing the turn. Indeed, paradoxical as it may sound, you should, in a sense, try not to turn; manœuvre your skis as I have directed, and try to keep a straight course, turning sideways as you do so, and you will probably come round without difficulty.

The faster you are running at the moment of beginning the turn, the more difficulty you will at first have in making it.

You had better, therefore, when learning it, run at a gradient which will only just allow you to keep moving smoothly (I am speaking of the gradient of your course across the slope, not of the gradient of the slope itself), otherwise, before beginning the turn, you may be inclined to stem with the lower ski in order to check the pace, and, when the lower ski is put in stemming position before the other is pushed round, there is a tendency for the weight to get too far back in the effort of starting the turn, which then misses fire. If you are bound to slow up before you begin the turn, do so by side-slipping with both skis and turning a little uphill (i.e. make a slight Christiania swing) as described in the last section, p. 131.

On an icy and steep slope it is, of course, especially necessary to make the turn very sharply if you are not to lose control in the middle of it. You can do this by running very slowly before turning, and then quickly putting the upper ski far round, and simultaneously weighting it by means of what is practically a jump from the other ski, which comes into the air almost before the first is weighted, and is brought down parallel with it almost instantly. This is well worth practising assiduously, for it makes all the difference to the safety of a turn on very steep and icy ground.

Do not be contented until you can make a short, sharp turn (both to right and left, of course) with perfect steadiness, on the steepest slope you can find. For although on steep slopes a Telemark or Christiania swing is the best way of making an uphill turn, there is no means so reliable as the stemming turn for turning downhill, no matter how steep the slope, provided the snow is hard, or that, if soft, it is shallow. It is almost useless, though, to attempt it in deep soft snow. At the best you will probably only get half-way round with an uncomfortable effort, and then the inner ski will be forced back, and come round after the other in Telemark position, in which, as you will find later, it might just as well have started.

At the worst you may be tempted to drag yourself round with the stick in the position shown in the photograph (Plate XXVIII.).

This position, which, I hope, is becoming less fashionable, is the very essence of incorrectness and awkwardness, and is an infallible sign either of poor nerve or of bad teaching. Here the weight falls principally on the inside ski and the stick, instead of entirely on the outer ski, while the skis are held parallel, or nearly so, instead of in the [V] position. The general position is a crouching one with the knees bent, instead of an erect one with straight and rigid legs; except for a feeble stemming action of the outer ski, which is too much edged, the turning effect is entirely due to the drag of the stick. Those who make use of this method generally refer to it as a stemming turn, “S” turn, or Alpine curve, using either of these terms in contradistinction to the terms “Telemark” and “Christiania,” evidently under the impression that an “S” curve can only be made by stemming, and that by means of the Telemark or Christiania it is only possible to turn uphill and stop. The only correct title for this manœuvre is “stick turn.”

When I say that this method is awkward and incorrect, I do not merely mean that it is ugly, for I suppose that to the unsophisticated eye its attitude is no more ugly than the exaggerated straddle of the correct stemming position. There are two strong reasons for considering it execrable in style and utterly to be avoided.

In the first place it is a waste of energy, because it takes a considerable muscular effort to make a turn in this way, even when the snow is easy, and an exhausting one when it is not; while by substituting correct methods one can always turn without the smallest strain. The second objection to it is that it is inefficient, for by turning in this way it is impossible to make a short curve, especially in deep soft snow; and until a runner can turn sharply in snow of any quality and on a slope of any steepness (I do not say at any speed), he by no means can be said to have proper control of his skis. I do not for a moment deny that it is the easiest way of turning, in the sense that it is the one requiring the least skill. But any one who knows what can be done by correct methods, who has ordinary nerve, and who does not look on ski-running solely as a means of locomotion, for which a technique demanding the minimum of skill is the one to be preferred, will shun the “stick turn” as he would the pestilence.

Finally, let me remind you once more that in stemming—and this holds equally good whether you are turning or going straight ahead—the skis should never be quite flat; their outer edges must be lifted a little even when the snow is easy, rather more so when it is not (see p. 83).

To be quite accurate I ought to have said the skis must not be kept flat, for obviously they must during a downhill turn each pass through the flat position, since their edging, on the tack before the turn, is the reverse of what it is on the tack that follows it. This change of edge, as a matter of fact, constitutes one of the difficulties of the turn. The outer ski makes the change easily enough, for the outer ankle (which is bent inwards in order to start the turn) does not have to alter its position while the change of edge takes place. But the inner ski, if kept on the snow throughout the turn, is by no means easy to manage at the moment that the change has to be made. This ski remains on its inside edge until nearly the end of the turn, and if allowed to remain so for a moment too long is very apt to catch on this edge and run across the other or refuse to come round, especially on a steep slope, if (as he should have done) the runner has made a very wide straddle when facing straight downhill.

This difficulty is entirely avoided when the turn is finished by the lifting of the inner ski (the change of edge then taking place, so to speak, in the air). Indeed, although this lifting of the ski may sound somewhat acrobatic to any one who has not tried it, it is really quite the reverse. It needs far less adroitness than does a neat and steady finish of the turn with the ski kept on the snow, and is, in fact, not only the quicker and more effective, but also considerably the easier and safer of the two methods.

The runner can only make a true stemming turn when going at a moderate pace. By finishing it as a Christiania, however, he can turn either uphill or downhill when going much faster. In fact the sooner the skis are brought parallel, the greater the pace at which the turn can be started; at very high speeds only a trifling preliminary stem being either necessary or safe.

Short Directions for a Downhill Stemming Turn to the Left

From normal running position, right foot leading, left weighted.

Bending and turning inwards right knee, ankle, and foot, push heel of right ski outwards and forwards to the widest possible stemming position—its tip close to but ahead of the other’s—at the same time slightly flattening the left ski and pressing on its toe. As the skis turn downwards push their heels wide apart, quickly shift your weight forwards and outwards, and, with a push from the inner ski, throw it full on the right heel as you face straight downhill—at the same time lifting the left ski quickly round to the side of the other and finishing the turn with the skis parallel.

When moving slowly this is to be done in two motions; when moving fast, in one continuous one.

Fix the eyes on the tips of the skis and try to lean in that direction only, not inwards.

N.B.—The latter half of this turn is, of course, really an uphill one, separate directions for which are therefore unnecessary.

THE TELEMARK SWING

Although by stemming you can make either up or downhill turns with perfect ease either on a hard icy surface or in shallow loose snow, you will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to make a stemming turn in loose snow of more than a certain depth or density—unless you drag yourself round with the stick. By means of the Telemark swing, however, you can easily make turns in any sort of loose snow, and can do so on any slope, no matter how steep it may be.

If you can already both run and stem in the Telemark position, with either foot leading, you will find it a very simple matter to learn the swing. In fact you may be said to have learnt it after a fashion, for to stop by Telemark stemming is to make a clumsy Telemark uphill turn. For practising this swing, find a moderate slope where the snow is soft and, for choice, deep or dense enough to make a stemming turn difficult.

Uphill Turn to the Left.—Run at a gentle gradient across the slope with the hill on your left and the weight on the lower (right) foot, not, however, in the normal position, with the left foot advanced, but in the Telemark position, with the right foot leading.

Fig. 36.—Uphill Telemark swings to left (a from a traversing, b from a direct descent).

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

The left ski should then be so far back that its bend is level with the right ankle, the left heel should be raised, and the left leg perfectly relaxed, with the knee nearly touching the ski. The right knee should be perpendicularly over the foot, and both knees be pressed inwards. This is only preparatory, and you should, in this position, be able to run directly across the slope at whatever gradient you choose.

As soon as you are fairly under weigh, make the swing as follows:

Turn the right knee and foot a little inwards, placing the front ski slightly at an angle with the other; at the same time edge the right ski inwards and put the whole weight on the right heel, pressing it down and trying to lift the toes.

You will at once begin to turn uphill. The moment you start turning lean more forwards and face full towards the point of the front ski. As you stop moving weight the toe of the front foot, press the back knee inwards, and so bring the skis parallel.

Unless you are on the look-out for it, you will find a tendency, as you begin the turn, to lean inwards (towards the hill), or backwards, putting weight on the left foot, and at the same time to straighten the right knee and relax the right ankle, more or less flattening the ski (Plate XXX.). As a result you will, if you do not fall inwards at once, probably finish the swing in an awkward straddled position, the right ski pointing uphill, almost at right angles to the other ski, which will not have altered its direction, and the weight on both feet. Or else you will find that the weight on the left ski will make it run up level with the other again, which will prevent you from turning, or across it, which will throw you down.

It will help you to avoid this inward lean if you remember that, as explained on p. 82, your right ski in turning does not cut round directly as a skate does, but slips sideways as well as forwards, and that, therefore, during the swing your right foot, instead of moving more and more to the left of your original line of progress, will at first move to the right of, or below it; and, if the hill is steep or the snow shallow, will hardly be above it even at the end of the swing. It is obvious, then, that if you are to remain properly balanced on your right ski, very little inward lean is necessary, and the usual directions for leaning the body inwards while making the swing are most misleading. In fact, although one really has to lean inwards when the turn has begun, the instinct to avoid an outward fall makes one overdo this to such an extent that at first it is better to try to throw the weight rather to the right and outwards, downhill (but well forwards), in order to get the proper balance.

In the Telemark swing the edging of the leading ski is an important factor in the turn, and there is more forward motion in proportion to the side-slip than in the stemming turn, which is almost entirely a skidding turn. Indeed, when the swing is made while running fast in deep soft snow (which reduces the side-slip to a minimum), the runner, as he comes at right angles to his original course at the end of the swing, may find it necessary to lean consciously inwards, but only at the end—never under any circumstances at the beginning of the swing.

In this swing, as in the stemming turn, it is a mistake, when practising, to look the way you want to go, as is sometimes advised. You must only look the way you are actually going at the moment—i.e. rather to the outside of the point of the leading ski.

It is also useless to try to force the turn by swinging the body or in any other way; and, as in the stemming turn, it is better to think nothing at all about turning, simply confining your attention to the weighting and position of the skis, and trying, in a sense, to go straight on. The great thing at first is to prevent the weight getting back on the back foot.

There is, of course, no real necessity for running in the Telemark position before beginning the swing, but to do so whilst learning it gives you less to think about when starting the turn. As soon as you get a little accustomed to it you can run in normal position with the upper foot leading until you wish to turn, and can then drop into Telemark position, lower foot leading, and begin the swing simultaneously.

When you can make the swing to the left, run across the slope in the opposite direction, and learn to make it to the right in the same way (of course substituting “left” for “right” and “right” for “left” in the directions).

When you can do this, practise it to the left again, this time running more directly downhill than at first, and then in the same way to the right, until you can at last swing to a standstill either right or left when running straight downhill (Fig. 36, b). But do not, at any stage, run far before beginning to swing; get fairly under weigh and make the swing, then run on and do it again, and so on until you have gone as far as you wish. In this way you will get less climbing uphill in proportion to the amount of practice.

It is at the end of a swing made when running straight downhill that you are almost sure to find it necessary to lean inwards if the snow is deep and the speed high, but till you find a distinct tendency to fall outwards you need not concern yourself about it.

Of course, instead of coming to a standstill at the end of a swing, you can, if you wish, stop turning before the leading ski comes to a horizontal position, and can run on obliquely down the hill. In order to do this you have only, as soon as the leading ski is pointing the way you want to go, to shift the weight from the heel to the toe, stand erect, and bring the back ski to the front in the normal position.

As soon as you can swing both to left and right when running straight downhill, learn to make a downhill turn (“S” turn), which will enable you to join one tack to another when descending a slope in zigzags.

Downhill Turn to the Left.—In this use of the swing the skis are held as before, and weighted in much the same way, but there are one or two points to be noticed.

Run across the slope at a moderate gradient with the hill on your right, in Telemark position with the right foot leading (or start in normal position, and when you mean to turn, shift the weight from left foot to right and drop back the left ski).

Fig. 37.—Downhill Telemark swing to left at various stages.

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

Then, lifting the outer edge of the right ski, turn the right foot and knee inwards, and so place the ski at a slight angle with the other, as in starting an uphill swing. But, while in an uphill swing this angle should be very slight indeed and the body should immediately turn towards the point of the front ski, in a downhill swing the angle must be a trifle wider, and the body must remain facing the point of the back ski until both have turned far enough for the front one to point nearly straight downhill. The stemming of the front ski, in fact, and the combined steering action of both, which in an uphill turn should hardly be perceptible, should in a downhill one be more pronounced. The weight, moreover, must just at first be placed on the toe of the front foot to help that ski to turn downwards.

The moment you are fairly heading downhill, throw the whole weight on to the heel of the front ski, face towards its point, and finish the swing as before (Fig. 37).

The faster you are running at the moment of beginning the swing, the sooner you can transfer the weight from the toe to the heel, and face in the direction of the leading ski; in fact, from a very fast traverse, a downhill Telemark swing is practically made in exactly the same way as an uphill one, the preliminary stem of the front ski and the weighting of the toe being barely perceptible.

In putting the weight on the toe at the beginning of the swing, take great care not to poke the foot forward, but to keep the knee well over it; otherwise you are sure to take the weight right off it.

Be on your guard also against the tendency to try to start the swing by leaning to the left, for, if you do this, you will either fall downhill or get the skis apart. Simply lean well forward, look in that direction only, and don’t think of trying to turn, but rather try to go on across the slope, letting your skis carry you round.

As you turn downwards of course the pace increases, and you must lean more forward, but you will find it less difficult to do this sufficiently during the Telemark swing than during a stemming turn. The great secret is to keep the right knee well forward over the foot, to try to lean over the front of the ski, and to keep your eyes on the ground at your feet, trying to imagine it flat, as I advised in the case of the stemming turn.

The Telemark swing, when executed correctly, at high speed, requires no sustained muscular effort except that of holding the leading ski on its inside edge and pressing down the heel. In deep soft snow this is easy enough, if the knee is well over the leading foot and all the weight on that ski, but in shallow snow it is sometimes difficult, at a high speed, to prevent the ankle from bending outwards, which flattens the ski and makes it skid outwards with an irregular, jerky movement, leaving the weight on the back foot. To prevent this, press the knee in well, turn the outside of the foot hard upwards, and press the toe upwards against the toe-strap.

This will give the sensation of grinding the inner side of the heel into the snow, and you should try to increase the pressure as the swing proceeds.

Strictly speaking, a very slight flattening of the front ski hastens the start of an uphill swing from a traverse. But this flattening should be merely momentary, and it is so difficult to make it so and instantly to edge the ski again that it is safer to leave it out altogether.

Neither allow the back ski to come forward to the normal position, nor weight it until the swing is quite finished and you are either standing still or running off in a new direction.

It may seem that, owing to the position, the Telemark swing calls for more delicate balancing than the other methods of turning. There is really not so much difference, for in either the stemming turn or, as will be seen later, in one form of the Christiania swing, when these are properly executed, the weight must for a time be balanced almost entirely on one ski. It is, however, more difficult to avoid a fall in case of an error of balance or of unexpected side-slip in the Telemark swing than in the Christiania or stemming turns, for in the two latter the unweighted foot is in a position to receive the weight and help the balance, while in the former it can only do so in a very slight degree. Moreover, it is especially at the finish of the swing (when balancing is most difficult), in the Telemark, that the weight must be entirely on the one ski, while both the Christiania and stemming turn can, and should, be finished with the weight equally on both. If, however, the Telemark is only employed in soft snow of fair depth, the side-slip will be slight and perfectly regular, and for that reason will not disturb the balance much.

On an icy surface, or in shallow loose snow, although it is easy enough to come round with a Telemark swing, the irregular side-slip as the swing ends makes it difficult to keep the balance; but on snow of this kind, which is particularly suitable for the stemming turn or Christiania, there is no necessity to use the Telemark at all.

Practise this swing at first on a moderate slope, and then on steeper ones, until you can finally make short downhill turns on the steepest slope you can find. But do not, at any rate at first, waste time in trying to learn it where the quality of snow makes it difficult.

If at first, through nervousness or bad balance, you have much difficulty with the Telemark, you can learn it by easy stages either (1) from a standstill, (2) from the snow-plough position, or (3) from Telemark stemming.

(1) Place yourself in the starting position of Plate XIII. Throw your weight full on to the heel of the right ski, pushing it a trifle farther outwards as you do so, and sinking into Telemark position as it slides off. If you almost simultaneously face round towards its point and bring the other ski to its side by pressing the left knee inwards, you will swing round to the left to a standstill almost before you have moved.

Or, holding yourself back with your sticks, you can place your skis in Telemark position, both pointing straight downhill. Then letting your sticks go, you can swing round instantly to a standstill.

(2) While snow-ploughing straight downhill, throw the whole weight out on to the heel of one ski, turning towards its point as you do so, and dropping the other back into Telemark position. A downhill turn, in the same way, can, as I have already said, be started by snow-ploughing and finished as a Telemark.

(3) To learn a downhill swing, traverse very slowly in Telemark position, upper ski leading, but kneeling down on and fully weighting the lower ski, then turn the upper ski steadily as far round as possible into Telemark stemming position pointing downhill, immediately afterwards shifting the weight gradually forwards on to it, but not letting the angle between the skis diminish until you are facing straight downhill, when you can turn towards the front ski’s point and bring the other round parallel.

I mention these kindergarten methods of learning the swing because I have found them really valuable for giving a nervous beginner confidence, but, if you try them, you must remember that to start the swing either from snow-ploughing or pronounced Telemark stemming is an exceedingly clumsy way of doing it, and only possible at very low speeds.

There is always a suspicion of stemming at the start of even an expert’s swing, and therefore, to be quite accurate, the weight is never entirely on the front ski at the outset, for it is of course impossible to place the front ski at an angle with the other without using the latter as a purchase, and so weighting it slightly. But the whole essence of a good swing, which can be made, steadily and easily, at top speed, is that the preliminary stem and consequent weighting of the back ski is reduced to a minimum—is in fact imperceptible, the runner’s weight coming on to the heel of the front ski at the very outset and being practically the sole factor in the turn.

By means of this swing it is even possible to make turns in a breakable crust, if that is not very thick, and if great care is taken to hold and weight the skis correctly.

The bend of the back ski must always be in contact with the front ankle. The back knee must therefore be pressed slightly inwards even when the skis are at an angle with each other.

Short Directions for an Uphill Telemark Swing to the Left

Preparatory.—With the right foot leading and weighted sink to a semi-kneeling position, the right knee perpendicularly above the foot, the left leg relaxed, the left heel raised, and the left knee almost touching the ski, both knees pressed a little inwards, the bend of the left ski level with the ankle of the right foot, and close against it.

Turn.—Turn right knee and foot inwards a little, placing front ski at slight angle with the other. As you do so (not later) lift outer edge of right ski and put the whole weight on right heel.

As turn begins face towards point of front ski. Lean more and more forwards throughout turn and edge front ski harder.

At finish weight toe of front foot and press back knee inwards, bringing skis parallel.

Fix your eyes on the front of the right ski, and try to lean in that direction only, not inwards.

N.B.—A downhill turn is made in the same way, except that, to start the swing, the toe of the right foot must be weighted for a moment.

THE CHRISTIANIA SWING

A Christiania is any turn in which the outer ski does not lead, and the skis are not held convergently, i.e. the skis may be either parallel or divergent, and either held level or with the inner leading.

This swing is, according to the purpose for which it is used, and the state of the snow, either an extremely difficult or the very easiest way of turning or stopping.

It is easiest on a hard icy crust (not a breakable one) either with or without a shallow covering of loose snow, and therefore for learning it one should find snow of this sort. Most practice-grounds, trodden hard by ski-tracks, are just the thing. The gradient is not so important, for it is quite as easy to learn this swing on a steepish slope as on a moderate one. I have already shown (p. 138) how an uphill Christiania may be started from a traverse by side-slipping, and also how a stemming turn may be finished as a Christiania (p. 143). The following method is more generally useful, and a steadier way of making the swing at a high speed.

Uphill Turn to the Right.—In the normal position, run across the slope at a gentle gradient with the hill on your right, your weight on the left ski, the right ski about a foot in advance.

Fig. 38.—Uphill Christiania swing to right (a from a traverse, b from a direct descent.)

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

When fairly under weigh lean well forwards, bend the front knee, shift most of the weight from the left foot to the right heel, and slide the left ski about six inches farther to the rear, turning its point slightly outwards, i.e. downhill, so that it takes the position shown in Fig. 38, a, 1, and at the same time flattening it by bending the left knee and ankle well outwards (Plate XXXIV.).

Owing partly to the steering effect produced by the relative position of the two skis and partly to the pressure on the heel of the right ski (a very slight momentary flattening of which will help the turn to start if it hangs fire at all), you will instantly begin to turn uphill. Immediately after beginning to turn press the left ski quickly inwards and forwards again to the normal position. As it again comes parallel to the other it may be edged and its left heel receive half the weight; until then it must be kept flat.

If you do all this correctly you should come to a standstill with the skis pointing more or less uphill, in the normal position, right ski leading (Fig. 38, a, 3).

The difficulty in this, as in all the turns, is, at the start, to keep most of the weight on one ski only. When, at the beginning of the swing, the weight has once been shifted on to the right ski, it must be kept there until the skis are brought parallel again. It is in order to ensure doing this that it is necessary to lean forwards, and keep the right knee well over the foot. This may appear likely to throw the weight on the toes, but the tendency for that to happen is really less when the leg is in this position than when it is straighter. A slight lifting of the left heel will lessen the tendency to throw weight on that foot.

If much weight is put on the left foot it will be difficult to hold the skis at the narrow angle shown in the diagram, especially if the left ski has not been flattened, but is still on its inside edge. The skis, then, instead of turning together, will probably run apart in the directions in which they are pointing (Plate XXXVII.).

In this swing, as in the Telemark, the tendency of the beginner is to lean too much inwards, towards the hill. What I said in this connection when describing the Telemark swing is equally applicable here, and to save you from referring back I will repeat it.

As explained on page 82, a ski can never cut round like a skate, but slips sideways, in turning, as well as forwards; and the shallower the snow, the steeper the hill, and the higher the speed, the greater is this side-slip. In making this turn to the right, therefore, your right foot, instead of moving at once to the right of the line of your previous course, will at first move to the left of, and below it; and, if the hill is steep or the snow shallow, may still be on its left even at the end of the swing, though the fact that the points of the skis remain on the other side of the line prevents this from being apparent at first (Fig. 38).

It is obvious, then, that if you are to remain properly balanced on your right ski, very little inward lean is necessary, and the usual directions as to leaning the body inwards while making the swing are most misleading.

In fact, although one really has to lean inwards when the turn has begun, the instinct to avoid an outward fall makes one overdo it to such an extent that at first it is better to try to throw the weight rather to the left and downhill—but forwards, not backwards, on to the left ski—in order to get the proper balance.

One must try to encourage the side-slip, not to check it; and the only way to do this is to try to throw the weight slightly outwards, or, at any rate, to guard against the least tendency to lean in, as one instinctively is inclined to do when the side-slip begins.

At the end of the swing the edging of the skis stops the side-slip, rather suddenly if one makes a sharp turn in soft snow, and it is only then that any conscious effort should be made to lean inwards, never at the beginning of the swing.

It is useless to try to hasten the swing by turning, leaning, or swinging the body; in fact, as I have said before, if you try to turn at all you are almost certain to fall. If, however, you try to go straight on, simply holding the skis, and distributing the weight as I have directed, you will probably turn without difficulty.

When you can make the swing to the right, learn to make it to the left in the same way, of course substituting left for right, and right for left in the directions. When you can do this, practise it to the right again, this time running more steeply downhill than at first, and then in the same way to the left, until you can at last turn to right or left when running straight downhill (Fig, 38, b). But do not, at any stage, run far before beginning to swing; get fairly under weigh and make the swing, then run on and do it again, and repeat this until you get to the bottom of your practice slope. To run far between each swing only gives you more climbing in proportion to the amount of practice.

There is one thing to be noticed about making the swing when running straight downhill. When running across the hill the skis are edged in the normal position, and the inner ski, which has to be slightly edged at the start of the swing, is therefore already about right. In running straight downhill both skis are flat in the normal position; it is therefore necessary, when turning to the right, to edge the right ski a trifle in order to begin the swing (Plate XXXV.).

The left ski is already flat; but to make sure that it keeps so as the turn begins, slightly bow the legs, turning both knees—especially the left—rather outwards.

When running straight downhill preparatory to swinging, always lead with the ski of the side to which you mean to turn.

Downhill Turn to the Right.—So far you have used the swing to make an uphill turn, in order to bring yourself to a standstill.

When using the swing in order to make a downhill turn, the skis are held in exactly the same relative positions as before, and weighted in much the same way, but it is necessary to notice carefully one or two details.

Suppose you are running across the slope with the hill on your left and wish to turn downwards to the right and make a fresh tack. Your weight in the normal running position is then on the right ski, and the left ski is advanced.

Fig. 39.—Downhill Christiania swing to the right at various stages.

The blackened parts are those which should be weighted.

In order to start the turn it is not necessary to shift the weight, which is already on the right ski; you have merely to turn the right knee and ankle slightly outwards as before, and to put the weight on the toe of the right foot, at the same time sliding the left ski to the rear. The right ski will now begin to point away from the other and turn downhill (Fig. 39, a, 1, 1). Take care to bend the right ankle only slightly outwards, so that the ski is not actually edged outwards, but only partially or completely flattened, according as the slope is steep or gentle; if there is any outward edging—or if the weight is on the heel—you will fail to start the turn.

As the right ski begins to turn downwards, take care that the angle between it and the other one does not become too wide, but that the left ski also begins to turn downhill (pressing on it with the toes and partially flattening it by bending the ankle inwards will enable it to do so) before the right has assumed the position of 2 in the diagram. If you put much weight on the left ski it will refuse to follow the other one round, and will either get across the heel of it, or run away from it and upset you.

The right knee and ankle are held in the same position throughout the swing, and this will bring the right ski on to its outside edge as soon as it is pointing directly downhill (in a sense, indeed, the right ski may be said to be “edged” throughout the swing if that expression is merely used to signify the depression of its outer edge and not its relation to the surface of the snow).

The left ankle, however, after being bent a trifle inwards, to start the swing, must, with the knee, be bent more and more outwards as the swing proceeds, in order to keep the left ski perfectly flat until it can be brought back to the side of the other one and edged inwards as the swing ends.

As soon as you have turned so far that you are facing straight downhill, shift the weight from the toe of the right foot to the heel and finish the swing as before. If you make a downhill turn very sharply while running fast you can shift the weight from toe to heel before you are facing downhill—in fact almost immediately after the turn has begun. In trying to put the weight on the toe at the beginning of the swing, take great care not to poke the foot forward, but to keep the knee well over it, otherwise you are sure to put some weight back on the left foot.

Be on your guard also against trying to start the swing by leaning to the right, for, if you do this, you will either fall downhill, or will find that the right ski refuses to turn downwards. Simply lean, as before, towards the tip of the right ski, look in that direction only, and don’t think of trying to turn, but rather try to go on across the slope.

As you turn downwards, of course, the pace increases, and you must therefore lean more forwards; the great thing is to keep the right knee well forward over the foot, to try to lean over the front of the ski, and to keep your eyes on the ground at your feet, endeavouring to imagine it flat, as I advised in the case of the Telemark and stemming turns.

You will find this downhill turn of very little practical use on a steep slope until you can make it quite shortly and sharply, for, if you make a long curve, the pace increases so much in the middle of it that you are almost sure to lose control and fail to finish the swing, even if you do not fall down.

When performed in this way the Christiania swing can be used for making either up or downhill turns on practically any slope and in any kind of snow except breakable crust. The deeper, however, the skis sink into the snow, the greater is the difficulty, not only because they skid round less readily, but because it then needs more force to hold the outer, back ski at a narrow angle with the other owing to the increased outward pressure of the snow. Unless this ski is then held perfectly flat it will instantly run apart from the other.

In the method just described the turn is started by sliding back the ski which is to be the outer one and pointing it away from the side to which one is about to turn. Another way of starting the turn is to slide forward the ski which is to be the inner one and point it towards the side one means to turn to. This practically amounts to the same thing looked at from another view; the relative position of the skis is exactly the same, and there is very little practical difference in the making of the turn.

As I find that beginners learn the swing more easily if told to do it in the first way, I have given these directions first, but I should have thought myself that the swing was easier to understand, and therefore to perform, when considered from this second point of view.

Before going any further let me warn the reader, if he is a beginner, that the next three pages or so are not strictly practical, but are rather meant to elucidate the theory of the swing. If after glancing at them the reader does not feel very hopeful of enlightenment, he may safely skip them.

I have so far talked about steering action starting the turn. When the swing is looked at from this second standpoint, one can say that stemming action starts it—or rather prepares for it.

Suppose, for instance, you are traversing to the right at a gentle gradient, and wish to turn uphill in this way. You are in the normal position, left foot weighted, and right foot leading; in order to prepare for the turn keep the left ski edged normally and weighted, slide the right a little farther forward, turn it rather away from the other, i.e. point it about horizontally across the slope (the gradient of your course being very slight), and nearly flatten it by keeping the right knee and ankle a little inwards. What you are now doing is actually stemming—divergent stemming, not convergent like ordinary or Telemark stemming, but still stemming; Christiania stemming if you like to call it so. As long as you hold this position with the left ski edged and weighted and the body facing towards its point you will go straight ahead at a reduced pace. You can now stop either by stemming alone or by stemming and turning.

(1) Keep the left (running) ski normally edged, and gradually edge and weight the right stemming ski more and more until you come to a standstill without a change of front—a true stemming stop, but awkward, because the skis tend to run apart as the upper ski receives the weight.

(2) You can stop more neatly by shifting the weight all at once to the stemming ski, facing towards its point as you do so and instantly bringing round the lower ski—lifting it if you like, or at any rate flattening it—to the side of the upper. This is something between stopping by stemming and stopping by a step round. There is no swing about either process, and although the last may be called a turn because there is a change of front, it cannot be more than a slight one, because one cannot safely point away the upper ski at more than a slight angle.

Apart from the question of speed, with the increase of which the insecurity of any sort of stemming always increases, you cannot, of course, stop in either of these ways if traversing steeply enough for the divergent upper ski to be no longer pointing quite horizontally. You must then do so either (3) by flattening the lower ski, putting half the weight on the upper, holding the divergent position until the consequent steering action brings the upper ski horizontal again, and only then putting the whole weight on it and bringing the other parallel to it—a pure “steered” turn, with the inevitable accompanying drawback of the tendency of the skis to run apart; or (4) by shifting the weight all at once to the stemming ski—facing towards its point as you do so, bringing the other (flattened) quickly parallel to it, and instantly weighting the heels of both (see p. 131), when they will turn upwards in side-slipping and come to a standstill. If before you make the turn you only point the stemming ski at a very slight angle away from the other, and if you throw your weight on it and face towards its point as, and not after, you point it outwards, you will, by the method just described, make what, for the sake of distinction, may be called the “steered” Christiania in the best way that it is possible to make it.

In coming to a standstill on a gentle slope from a slow traverse by any of the methods just described, you will find that the practical differences between them are very small indeed; but if running very fast you would find that the first two were impossible, and the third awkward and unsafe, but that by the last (which, as I have said, is practically the same as the method described at the beginning of the chapter) you could, if your balance were good, turn and stop with perfect ease and steadiness. What I have called Christiania stemming, though possible, is of so little practical use that, in that respect, it is hardly worth considering; but to understand how it may be done, and its exact relation to steering, side-slipping, &c., makes it so much easier to master the difficulties of the swing, that I have risked exasperating the reader by describing it at length.

The upshot of all this is that when the Christiania is made in either of the ways so far described in this chapter, whatever steering or divergent stemming there is in it should be reduced to a minimum.

In this turn, by whatever method it is made, the main difficulty—apart from the question of balance—is in getting the turn started. If once the heel of the leading ski can be got fairly outside the track of its point, it is easy enough to keep the turn going. It is the starting of the turn that is the main object of the divergent position of the skis; in fact, although this position produces some steering effect as long as there is any forward motion at all, it produces less and less as the skis move more and more broadside on, and is only really efficient as the turn begins. This divergent position, indeed, although on the whole, I think, the best possible way of starting the swing, becomes more hindrance than help as the turn proceeds, owing to the accompanying tendency, if most of the weight is on the inner ski, for the outer one to run away from it; or, if the outer ski is most weighted, for the inner one to whip round at right angles and cross the other’s heel (Plate XXXIX.). You should be careful, therefore, not to let the skis point much apart, and not to let them do so at all for a moment longer than you can help, but as soon as you are sure the steering has done its work thoroughly, and the heel of the front ski has fairly begun to side-slip, should quickly bring the skis parallel, and carry through the rest of the turn simply by weighting both heels.

In the case of an uphill turn made while running fast, you will generally find that the skis can be brought together again almost instantly. The separation of the skis is then almost imperceptible, and no doubt many runners do it quite unconsciously. The skis merely make, as it were, a quick snip, like a pair of scissors.

In order to get the skis parallel, some people find it easier, instead of keeping the outer ski unweighted and pressing its point inwards again, to shift most of the weight back and out on to it, and so thrust its heel outwards. The latter method puts the skis parallel a little more quickly than the former, but is apt to get them rather wide apart in doing so.

The two methods just described are, as I have said, identical in principle; the divergent position of the skis, with its accompanying steering effect, being the main characteristic of each. In each method, moreover—apart from the question of balance—the only muscular effort necessary (which should be very slight) is that of checking and reducing the divergence of the skis; the runner, as soon as the skis are parallel, being carried round without any effort whatever.

A third method—the one usually taught—is quite different in principle, being precisely similar to a skating turn; that is to say, the runner uses the inertia, or rather momentum, of his upper body as a purchase from which, by a muscular effort—though not necessarily a great one—he throws both skis simultaneously more or less athwart the line of his course; the skis remaining parallel throughout and acting practically as one. I said a muscular effort—I ought rather to have said “two muscular efforts,” for the movement which causes the skis to turn, though it may be very slight, and may then appear to the onlooker—and even feel to the expert performer—quite simple, is really a compound one that consists of two distinct parts, and should be learnt as such.

Supposing you are running straight downhill and want to make a turn to the right in this way, the preparation is as follows: either slightly advance the right ski, or hold both skis level, place the weight equally on both, edging them very slightly to the right, bending the knees a little, keeping both them and the skis in close contact, and leaning well forwards. These relative positions of the skis and legs are, if possible, held unaltered throughout the swing.

You can now make the double movement that produces the turn.

(1) Without letting your head turn or straightening yourself up, swing the arms, shoulders, and upper body well round to the right. This swinging movement should be easy yet decided, starting gently and increasing in force as it proceeds—in fact, as Mr. Richardson says, it should be made “crescendo,” not “sforzando.” It should bring you to the position of Fig. 40, a, right arm well back and left well across the front of the body, which should be leaning more to its right than in the drawing, with the hips, therefore (to keep the centre of gravity exactly over the skis), projecting more to their left. At the instant that the swinging movement of the arms and shoulders brings you into the above position—i.e. just before the movement reaches its extreme limit and while its force is still increasing—make a sudden effort to reverse it—that is, simultaneously make a vigorous stroke to the left with the arms, and jerk the hips and knees round to the right by suddenly twisting the body at the waist.

Fig. 40.—“Jerked” Christiania swing, a before, b after turn.

Fig. 41.

This reverse twist of the body has practically no effect upon the shoulders—being there neutralised (though this may not be obvious at first sight) by the back-stroke of the arms—but acts almost entirely on the hips, turning them until they face even farther to the right than did the shoulders at the end of their previous swing. The result, therefore, of the whole double movement, if made with force and precision, should be that you find yourself in the position of Fig. 40, b, or Plate XLIV.—the skis having whipped round to right angles, or thereabouts, with their original direction—and that, after more or less side-slip, according to your speed and the quality of the snow, you come to a standstill.

In saying that this double movement should be made with force, I do not mean that it should be made violently. If the turn is to be made very suddenly, so that the skis whip round instantly to right angles, some force is certainly necessary, for then the whole of the turning movement of the skis is carried out by the double muscular effort of the body and arms. But this double effort—the swing of the shoulders and the immediately following jerk of the hips—may be, and indeed usually is, used merely to start the turn by getting the heels of the skis outside the track of their points; the rest of the turn being carried through by the weighting of the heels, in the same way that, as I have already explained, the greater part of a steered Christiania can so be carried through. In this case the “swing-and-jerk,” which takes the place of the “snip” of the skis in the other method, may be an almost imperceptible effort, the most obvious part of which is a slight twisting of the hips. As absence of effort is of the greatest importance in ski-ing, one may perhaps say that in a sense this is the best way of making the turn. But even though you may seldom want to make the turn fully and instantaneously it is extremely useful to be able to do so in case of need, and if you have learnt to complete a turn forcibly you will find it all the easier to start one gently. If, however, you never try to do more than start the turn with a gentle swing-and-jerk, it is quite likely that you will never do even that with real certainty—the subtlety of a gentle movement making it more difficult to learn correctly than a forcible one. You are still more likely to be unsuccessful if you leave out half the movement, as is sometimes directed, and only try to swing the shoulders, or to twist the hips, or if you try to move both round simultaneously, or if, as I myself used wrongly to direct, you treat the double movement as two quite separate ones—a merely preparatory turn of the shoulders with a pause between it and the hip-jerk. Not that the turn cannot be made in either of these ways; it can in all, but only awkwardly with the help of a good deal more force than would otherwise be necessary. An expert making a “jerked” Christiania—as this sort may perhaps be called, since the jerk round of the hips and consequent thrusting forward of the ski-heels is the crucial part of it—whether he makes it powerfully or gently, will do so with just the force needed and no more; in other words, he will do it gracefully. The essential points of the movement so made are—(1) that it is a double one, (2) that the second part of the movement follows the first without the least pause, (3) that the force used, however small, is gradually increasing in the first part, sudden in the second, (4) that each part of the movement is made with about the same strength; for feebleness in the one part has to be compensated for by undue violence in the other. If these four conditions are complied with the movement will usually need very little force.

You had better try this swing-and-jerk movement, first without skis, on a smooth floor, then with skis, but at a standstill, on the slipperiest bit of hard snow you can find—slightly convex, for choice, so that only the middles of the skis rest on it—before trying it while actually running. The first time you try it you will probably find that, in spite of the many words I have managed to use on it, it is just what you would do by the light of nature if asked, without letting your face turn, to hold your feet together and make them turn suddenly as far round to the right as possible. You will also find that in order to do it quickly you will be inclined to make the movement with a bit of a jump, and this, in fact, is the best way to do it when on skis. There should always be some dipping of the knees with the swing and the least suspicion of a spring with the jerk, just sufficient to take most of the weight off the skis for a moment and enable them to come round with less effort from the body. This spring may, if the snow makes it difficult to start the turn, be made strongly enough to lift the skis clear of it.

This is the only turn on skis in which the arms are used as an aid to turning. In the stemming turn, the Telemark, and the other variety of the Christiania, the arms will very likely wave about involuntarily to help the balance, but as far as possible they should hang quietly by the sides, a moderately expert runner being able to make either of these turns with his hands in his pockets or clasped behind his back.

In this form of the Christiania, however, the double swing of the arms—especially their back-stroke—is the greatest help, for it practically holds the shoulders at the end of their swing, and enables the body muscles to use them as a purchase from which to pull the hips round. You can easily convince yourself of the value of free and correct arm-action in this turn if, after making it as I have directed, you try to turn either with your arms tightly folded, or clasped behind your back, or by swinging them to the right only and then holding them in the position of Fig. 40, a, instead of bringing them back again.

It is naturally far easiest to make a turn in this way on a hard smooth surface which allows the skis to skid round freely. It is only on this sort of snow, in fact, that the whole turn can be jerked; in deep soft snow it is hardly possible to do more than just start the turn by swing-and-jerking; the heel-weighting must then do nearly all of it. If this heel-weighting is not timed and adjusted quite nicely, or if the skis are edged at all hard before they have made a considerable change of direction, the turn is apt to miss fire altogether; it is therefore, I think, a far less useful one to the average performer than the “steered” variety, which will almost always get him round somehow, even if clumsily.

For anyone who can make both kinds perfectly, the “steered” turn involves just as little effort as the “jerked,” and I certainly advise the beginner to get thoroughly accustomed to starting his turns by “steering” before he learns to “jerk” them.

I have only given directions for making the “jerked” turn from a direct descent; “jerked” turns, either uphill or downhill, can of course be made from a traverse in just the same way. Downhill turns are always rather more difficult than uphill turns, whatever be the method of turning; downhill “jerked” turns have the added difficulty that if, as is generally the case, the angle between the two tacks is a small one, the skis have to be jerked round farther than would usually be necessary in an uphill turn, and the jerk therefore takes more effort.

In snow which allows you to make a complete jerked turn you can, if not running very fast, practically stop dead, or change your course instantaneously, by making the Christiania in this way, for the edging of the skis, after the turn has been made, stops the side-slip almost before it has had time to begin.

If, on hard snow, you make a Christiania (of any kind) sharply while travelling at a high speed, you will often find that, after you have come round, the side-slip, which will then be very great, will be too irregular to allow you to keep your balance without holding the skis at some distance apart. Even a good runner is sometimes compelled to separate his skis in this way, but you should not do it if you can possibly help it, and if compelled to, should always bring the skis together as the side-slip grows less, not for the look of the thing, but because, though possible, it is difficult, if the skis are apart, to start a swing instantly in the other direction, as you may often wish to do.

The Christiania can also be started, as Bilgeri and his school advise, and as I have practically said already, from a very undeveloped ordinary stemming turn. In order, for instance, to make a swing to the left, one can advance the right ski, push out its heel a little, throw the weight on it, and face towards its point, and can then, by instantly bringing the left ski parallel and to the front and weighting its heel as well as the other’s, finish the turn as a Christiania. This is very easy to learn, and, if the preliminary stem is reduced to a minimum, is quite effective; but it is a much less steady way of turning at a very high speed than a Christiania started with the inside ski leading, and high speed is the real test.

Having said that a “jerked” Christiania is like a skating turn, I think I had better insert the following quotation from Mr. Richardson’s “Shilling Ski-runner,” with the sentiment of which I heartily agree. “The beginner should remember that turns are only a means to an end, and not, as in figure skating, an end in themselves. The real object of all ski-ing technique is to enable the runner to cross the snow as fast as possible, with as little effort as possible, and as safely as possible.”

Any beginner who has followed me through this chapter on the Christiania swing will probably think that a manœuvre which takes so much description must be appallingly difficult. I can assure him that it is nothing of the sort. Indeed the expert, who does it instinctively, will no doubt wonder why on earth I have made such a fuss about it. I do not think, however, that I could have said much less and yet have given a really complete explanation of how it may be done.

The only authorities, as far as I know, who have said that there is more than one way of making the swing, are Richardson and Hoek in Der Skilauf; they do not explain the difference in the making of it, but only in its results, giving a diagram of the tracks of two swings, one “gerissen,” and the other “gezogen,” i.e. “torn” and “drawn,” which, I suppose, are equivalent to “jerked” and “swung.”

Some writers having given directions for one variety of the swing and some for the other; their instructions at first sight appear so extraordinarily contradictory that I am almost afraid of confessing that I agree with them all, lest the reader who knows something about ski-ing should set me down as an amiable idiot. As soon, however, as one understands the cause of it, this contradictoriness is seen to be more apparent than actual. The difficulty in realising the existence of these variations of the swing is, no doubt, due to the fact that between the pure “jerked” Christiania at one end of the scale, and the pure “swung,” “steered,” “drawn,” or whatever one likes to call it, Christiania at the other, there are an infinite number of gradations, one of them being a form of the swing that is often seen, in which the turn is started by a slight jerk and a slight separation of the ski-points, and is carried through by the weighting of the heels.

When one is running across the hill an uphill Christiania of any kind can be made with perfect ease on any sort of snow short of breakable crust; when one is running straight downhill it is less easy, if the snow is very loose and deep; while to make a downhill turn in deep loose snow by means of a Christiania is decidedly difficult, especially if the slope is steep, though on hard snow and a moderate slope this downhill turn is easy enough and safer than a stemming turn, if the speed is at all high.

But although at first, when out on a run, you will be wise if you only use the Christiania for making uphill turns, and that on snow which is easy for it, you should when practising keep on trying it in deeper and deeper loose snow, and should turn downhill as well as uphill, not being satisfied until you can make fairly short downhill turns in deep loose snow on a really steep slope, as it is perfectly possible to do.

As in the case of the Telemark, the beginner can of course learn to make an uphill “steered” Christiania from a standstill by holding himself back with his sticks while he places the skis in the divergent position, and then letting himself go and swinging round immediately. This is in fact a very good way for him to begin to learn it, for he can thus find out in a very short time exactly how to hold his skis and distribute his weight; nor need he be afraid of contracting any bad habit by learning the swing in this way, for though he may find it rather easier to learn the Telemark by making it clumsily at first, he will find nothing of the sort in the case of the Christiania.

Before leaving the subject of the swings, let me impress upon the reader that in every swing or turn the runner at first starts the side-slip by stemming or steering with one ski held at an angle with the other or by moving both with a jerk—in short, by a muscular effort, however slight a one—and that having started the side-slip he lets his weight do the rest, and is carried round without any effort at all. It is the effortless side-slipping that gives a well-made swing its characteristic feeling and appearance.

The whole difference between a novice’s turn and an expert’s is that in the former’s the preparatory stemming or steering preponderates, in the latter’s the finishing side-slip; and that, moreover, in the novice’s swing the initial and final movements are seen (and felt) to be distinct and separate, while in the expert’s swing the preparatory movement merges imperceptibly into the final side-slip. The more the preparatory steering, stemming, or jerking is eliminated, the more comfortable—I will not say the easier—is the swing, and the steadier the balance if the swing is made at high speed.

In the preparatory stemming or steering the weight is for a moment more equally distributed on both skis than I have intended the beginner to suspect from the previous directions. Even in the Telemark, in which the weight is apparently entirely on the leading ski both before and throughout the swing, it is actually, at the moment the front ski is turned inwards, half supported by the back one. The same thing happens at the moment the skis are made to diverge in starting a “steered” Christiania. But if the beginner makes any conscious effort to put the weight back—unless, indeed, he tries to keep it well forward—he will almost inevitably put it entirely on the back ski, and in moving it on to the leading ski as the swing proceeds will find that his balance is liable to be disturbed. The fact that the weight is always farther back than he imagines is one which the beginner must continually remind himself. In every uphill turn the weight, which is at first, as I have just said, about equally on both skis, is almost immediately moved to the heel of the front foot—that is, it is thrown forward, and as the swing finishes it is thrown still more forward to prevent the ski from turning too far uphill. In the directions for the swings, therefore, the beginner should remember that to weight first the heel and then the toe does not, as a rule, mean to throw the weight first backwards and then forwards, but to throw it first forwards and then still more forwards.

Short Directions for an Uphill Christiania Swing to the Right.—1. (“Steered”) for any kind of snow except breakable crust.

Lean forwards and put all the weight on heel of right foot, right knee rather bent and well forward over foot, right ankle bent slightly outwards, so as to lift the inner edge of right ski; left ski about 18 inches to the rear, pointed slightly away from the other, and flat.

This position starts the swing; as it proceeds press the left ski smartly inwards and forwards, so that it returns as soon as possible to the normal position again, parallel to and touching the right ski. As it does so, but not before, it may be edged and receive half the weight; unless parallel with the other, it must be absolutely flat and almost unweighted.

Fix your eyes on the point of the right ski and try to lean in that direction only, not inwards.

N.B.—A downhill turn is made in the same way, except that to start the swing the toes of both feet must be weighted for a moment.

2. (“Jerked”) for hard snow, or shallow loose snow.

Preparation.—Press both knees and skis together and (except before a downhill turn) edge the latter slightly to the right; weight on both and well forwards; knees rather bent, feet level, or the right a little ahead.

Turn.—(1) Still stooping slightly, move arms, shoulders, and upper body—not the head—well round to the right with an easy but decided swing. (2) Without the least pause simultaneously reverse the twist of the body, make a vigorous stroke to the left with the arms, and jerk hips and knees round to the right. The movement of (1) should be gradual, of (2) sudden, but the force about the same in each. The skis should whip round to right angles, or nearly so, with their previous course.

JUMPING ROUND

If you can make the stemming turn and the Telemark and Christiania swings, you will, under most ordinary conditions of snow, be able to turn or stop with ease under any circumstances. Sometimes, however, you will encounter snow, the surface of which is covered by a crust, not thick enough to bear the runner’s weight without breaking, but sufficiently so to make it impossible for him to shear round through it even with a Telemark swing (for when the skis cut into a thick crust they will only run in a straight line).

Under these circumstances the only neat and quick way of turning or stopping is to do so by means of a jump which places the skis more or less broadside on to their original course, and this is not such a difficult matter as perhaps it sounds.